After dominating his opponents in mid-November in Valencia, then again a fortnight ago in Sepang, Vinales won once again today at Phillip Island. This brilliant series is all the more impressive as it involves three circuits with different characteristics, where Maverick rode for the first time in his life with a Yamaha M1.
This gifted driver achieved yet another great feat this Thursday in Australia by being the fastest, but also by achieving the three best times (1'28.846, 1'28.888, then 1'28.864) and being the only one to go below 1'29. Leaving the second Marc Marquez at 0.462 could not leave anyone indifferent. Vinales' time put him about a second off the testing record set in 1'27.899 by Jorge Lorenzo on Yamaha on October 5, 2013, but the surface was new at the time and qualifying tires were used at the time.
Maverick's best time was achieved this morning, and the other two at the end of the day. “ Of course I tried to go faster at the end of today's session, but in sectors three and four it was very windy so I couldn't improve the time I realized this morning, but I'm happy anyway. I was fast with both chassis and times in the low and medium 1'29s. We took a big step forward today and we will try to make further progress tomorrow.”
The risk for Vinales, with his youthful enthusiasm for super lap times, would be that he loses sight of all the work that needs to be done in order for the bike to perform well over the entire race. To get ahead of its opponents under the checkered flag, it will need carefully tuned electronics and suspensions, for example. He must also know how to choose among the tires offered to opt for those which will perform well at the end of the race. Michelin brought three new rear tires to Phillip Island to test. The softest of the three will only be used exceptionally, if the ambient temperature is very low, but will it be necessary to select the medium or the hard to win the race?
Beyond single-lap times, Maverick and his team also looked at the question of consistency: “Today we focused a lot on race pace and honestly we did a great job. We have taken a big step forward from yesterday. I feel more comfortable on the track and I feel better grip. I think we did a good job today, but there is still more to do. We need to choose the chassis we like best and decide on a few other things.”
